AN ACT relating to Kentucky Retirement Systems.
Amend KRS 16.582 to remove language which prohibited an injury or disease resulting from military service from being considered a disabling condition for hazardous members of Kentucky Retirement Systems; amend KRS 61.510 and 78.510 to utilize partial fiscal years in determining the final compensation of a nonhazardous member who began participating in the Kentucky Employees Retirement System and the County Employees Retirement System on or after September 1, 2008, but prior to January 1, 2014, in situations where the member does not have 5 complete fiscal years of service; make technical amendments; amend KRS 61.542 to remove the requirement that the estate be designated as beneficiary of a member's account when they request a refund of contributions prior to retirement; provide that a beneficiary shall not be changed on or after the first day of the month in which a retired employee begins receiving retirement benefits; amend KRS 61.545 to remove provisions allowing a member who is simultaneously eligible for participation in more than one retirement system administered by Kentucky Retirement Systems to select participation in only one system; make conforming amendments; amend KRS 61.552 to clarify and conform to federal law the payment options available to members for purchasing service credit; remove service purchase provisions no longer applicable to current members; require agencies who fail to report employees to the retirement system to pay penalties and interest on employer contributions from the date the contributions should have been reported to the system; make technical amendments; amend KRS 61.555 to provide that the service credit that is granted without cost to employees who are called to active duty military deployment shall be limited to those whose rights to such benefits have not been terminated under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA); require employees participating in the hybrid cash balance plan on or after January 1, 2014, who are called to active duty military deployment to pay their employee contributions if they are granted service credit, as required by USERRA, for the period of active duty deployment; require employers to make contributions, for service credited to employees as required by USERRA, who are called to active duty military deployment: make conforming amendments; amend KRS 61.557 to make technical amendments; amend KRS 61.560 to clarify that retirees reemployed on or after 9/1/2008 shall not pay into the systems and to make conforming amendments; amend KRS 61.590 to make technical changes and to clarify that a retiring employee must separate employment with all participating system employers; amend KRS 61.623 to allow the Kentucky Retirement Systems board of trustees to require retirees of the systems, by promulgation of administrative regulation, to receive their retirement allowance by electronic funds transfer to either a financial institution or to electronic fund transfer cards issued by Kentucky Retirement Systems; amend KRS 61.645 to allow the Kentucky Retirement Systems board by promulgation of administrative regulation to conduct trustee elections by electronic ballot; amend KRS 61.650 to increase the Kentucky Retirement Systems investment committee membership from 5 trustees to 7 trustees and to make technical amendments; amend KRS 61.680 to provide for consolidation of accounts with other state-administered retirement systems only if the member retires simultaneously from all state-administered retirement systems or retires from the other state-administered retirement systems within one month of retiring from the systems administered by Kentucky Retirement Systems; make technical amendments; amend KRS 61.702 to define "monthly contribution rate"; require recipients or the spouse or dependent children of a recipient of a retirement allowance, who is eligible to participate in Medicare to participate in the plans administered by the systems for Medicare eligible recipients; provide that a member who retired prior to July 1,2003, who has established a second retirement account shall not receive more than the monthly contribution rate for retiree health benefits: make technical amendments; amend KRS 16.520, 61.525, 61.5525, 61.592, 78.540, 78.610, and 78.615 to make technical and conforming amendments; provide non-codified section to provide that the successor of the additional board trustee elected by the County Employees Retirement System (CERS) added by SB 2 in the 2013 Regular Session shall be elected in the same period as all other CERS trustees in 2017 and shall have a shortened term from 2017 to 2021 to coincide with all other future CERS trustee terms of office.

HFA (1, D. Graham) - Retain original provisions; amend KRS 61.645 to provide that vacancies in an elected position on the Kentucky Retirement Systems board of trustees shall be filled, for the remaining term of office, by a majority vote of the remaining elected trustees rather than a majority vote of the remaining full board of trustees.HFA (2, T. Moore) - Amend KRS 6.525 to prohibit salary earned in another state-administered system from being used to determine benefits in the Legislators' Retirement Plan if the member does not have service in the other state-administered retirement systems prior to August 1, 2014; provide that members serving in the General Assembly on the effective date of this Act shall only be able to use salary earned in another state-administered retirement system prior to August 1, 2014, to determine benefits in the Legislators' Retirement Plan; amend KRS 6.757 to provide that a former legislator shall not accept employment in a position that is required to participate in the systems administered by Kentucky Retirement Systems, except for elected office, until after one (1) year has elapsed since the date the legislator left office.HFA (3, T. Moore) - Amend KRS 6.525 to prohibit salary earned in Kentucky Retirement Systems from being used to determine benefits in the Legislators' Retirement Plan if the member does not have service in the Kentucky Retirement Systems prior to August 1, 2014; provide that members serving in the General Assembly on the effective date of this Act shall only be able to use salary earned in Kentucky Retirement Systems prior to August 1, 2014, to determine benefits in the Legislators' Retirement Plan; amend KRS 6.757 to provide that a former legislator shall not accept employment in a position that is required to participate in the systems administered by Kentucky Retirement Systems, except for elected office, until after one (1) year has elapsed since the date the legislator left office.HFA (4, B. Yonts) - Retain original provisions, except amend KRS 61.598 to provide that members of the Kentucky Employees Retirement System, the County Employees Retirement System, and the State Police Retirement System, who retire on or after January 1, 2015, shall be limited to a 10% growth in the creditable compensation earned during their last five years of employment if that compensation is used to calculate their retirement benefits; provide that only creditable compensation earned on or after July 1, 2014, shall be subject to the creditable compensation growth limitations; exempt lump-sum payments for compensatory time from the compensation growth limitation; exempt from the compensation growth limitation those years of compensation where in the immediately preceding fiscal year the member had 5 weeks of paid worker's compensation benefits or 5 weeks of unpaid maternity, FMLA, or approved sick leave; exempt bona fide promotions or salary advancements from the compensation growth limitation; provide that the Kentucky Retirement Systems shall refund contributions and interest on contributions, for any reductions in creditable compensation provided by this section; provide that the Kentucky Retirement Systems shall determine what constitutes a bona fide promotion or salary advancement and allow the member to appeal a decision of the system to the board; remove provisions charging employers for creditable compensation growth greater than 10% during the employee's last five years of employment; amend 16.645, 61.645, and 78.545 to conform.